Never Forget

–WKW

(Author's Note: I had decided not to post this morning round-up at Dagblog anymore, but I changed my mind. I do that. I was thinking this would be a nice daily catch-all post for our increased readership and talented commentators.)

Comments

Thanks for posting the Dan Savage video. It brings up a memory about the time I met Dan Savage some years back when I brought him to my college campus to give a presentation. This was back in the day when his advice column in The Stranger was known as "Hey Faggot" as opposed to the more acceptable "Savage Love" that allowed him to become more syndicated. As I was writing a response, I realized that it was getting a rather long and that it was probably better to just turn it into a blog.

But a few thoughts. Towards the end of the video, Dan says "...bigots don't win." I would say that given the developments recently, from Tea Party candidates to the Family Values Summit to a nast email coming from the office of a Senator has me not quite so optimistic. As Rachel Maddow said on her show a few nights ago, the culture wars are back. So it is good to hear someone say "Don't Panic." Because I am panicking.

And maybe to the stir the pot a bit here, but for all those who say they will be staying home on election day because there is no difference between a D and a R, I would say this: that no matter how much similiarity there is between most of the Ds and the Rs, the Rs politically are tied to those on the cultural wing who push the hate and bile. It is this hate and bile that supports and enflames the hatred that the GLBT community experiences, that maintains the oppressive and violent enviroment that those who are young and GLBT experience on an almost daily basis in their schools.

No, we shouldn't panic. Things do get better. But things do get better because we refuse to let the other side to win. We stand up to them and say that their views, their way is not the way of free and compassionate nation. And one place we do that standing up is in the voting booth.

[....] Last month, Jared Kushner announced the Administration’s support for the bill in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, writing that the six million Americans in local and federal prisons are included among “the forgotten men and women” that Trump vowed to fight for during his Presidential campaign.. “Get a bill to my desk, and I will sign it,” Trump promised. The House passed the bill this week.

President Trump on Thursday canceled a planned summit next month with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, citing “tremendous anger and open hostility” from the rogue nation in a letter explaining his abrupt decision.

“I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting,” Trump said to Kim in a letter released by the White House on Thursday morning.

The summit had been planned for June 12 in Singapore.

In his letter, Trump held open the possibility that the two leaders could meet at a later date to discuss denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, which Trump has been pushing.

"President Trump’s unprecedented meeting on Monday with the FBI director and deputy attorney general regarding a case in which he is directly involved may turn out to be the defining moment of his presidency and for his party. Bob Bauer at the Lawfare blog writes:

North Korea is threatening to reconsider Kim Jong Un’s participation in a summit with President Trump next month, saying it is up to the United States to decide whether it wants to “meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown.”

Stacey Abrams just one the Democratic Gubernatorial race in Georgia by roughly 3:1. She could become the first black and first female Governor of Georgia. It looks like the Republican candidate will be chosen after a runoff election since no one reached 50% of the vote.

Evans argued that Democrats could win by appealing to moderate Republicans. Abrams argued that the party needs to focus on disaffected Democrats. Abrams won. Abrams even won Democrats in northern Georgia with small minority populations.

Kendrick Lamar brought on a white fan onstage to rap along with his song “m.A.A.D. City”. When the fan rapped the song as written, repeating the N-word three times, Lamar halted the performance. He told the fan that she could not use the word. She apologized. He gave her a second chance. She almost rapped the word again, the crowd was not having it. Lamar ushered the fan off stage and continued the performance.

The audience responded negatively to the white fan using the words on stage. She lost the crowd with the first use of the words. Some did point out that she was just rapping the words as written.